"So...?" King raised one eyebrow. "Are you going to sit there and stay tight-lipped, or are you going to confess?"
"You know, we still have a class to catch, Mr. Ishida."
Ishida finally stirred, leaning forward slightly.
"Okay, okay. Hold your horses."
"I have no idea what caused this sudden change of heart, but..." He paused. "Thank you."
"To be honest, I haven't come up with the brightest idea for securing Urara's position at Tracen."
"I'm actually more interested in your perspective, King Halo."
"After all, you enrolled at Tracen without any trouble. There must be some firsthand experience we can draw from."
"M-My... advice?" King stammered.
"I thought you were supposed to come up with an idea and present it to me, not the other way around!"
"Yes, yes... You're right about that, King." Ishida sighed. "But sometimes, two people thinking about a problem is better than one."
He shrugged.
"Even if my idea fails, we'll still have a second string to our bow."
King sighed.
"Enough beating around the bush, Mr. Ishida. Just tell me the plan already!"
"You know, we don't have all day. We can't spend forever going in circles over this."
"O-Okay, fine..." Ishida finally said, slumping in defeat.
"If... you insist."
He hesitated as he continued.
"It's just that..."
"You might not like this one bit."
"You see..."
"There's an exploitation in the system. A loophole, to be precise."
"One specific rule we could use to secure Urara's place at Tracen without requiring her to win another trial race."
At that, King's expression hardened.
"I don't like the sound of that."
"What exactly are you insinuating?"
"Well... I was thinking that..." Ishida scratched the back of his head.
"...maybe, if you wouldn't mind having..."
"...your trainer scout Urara?"
"Through that, there's a condition within Tracen's rules stating that any Umamusume who is scouted will automatically become a student of Tracen."
"Regardless of her current ability, disadvantages, or previous qualifications."
"Thus, it would secure Urara's place at this institution without requiring her to..."
"...win."
With that finally disclosed, a silence settled between them.
Neither spoke for a while as the weight of Ishida's words seemed to muffle everything around them.
Until—
"No, no..." Ishida quickly waved his hands in dismissal. "It's not that you'd be required to keep her on your team permanently."
"Rather, it's more of an... in-and-out method."
"You can scout her, and then—"
"How disgusting!" King interrupted, her anger flaring instantly.
"Have you lost your mind, Ishida—"
"No, I mean... Mr. Ishida!"
"How dare you reduce Urara to such an extent by exploiting the very system Tracen claims to uphold!"
"The system that was built on fairness and honest competition!"
"I won't just let you turn it into some loophole just to secure her place!"
"And how dare you propose such a sleazy, cheap, uncouth, classless, and downright fraudulent method?!"
"What do you take me for?! Some tatterdemalion oaf?!"
"You know I will never agree to such a—!"
Before King could continue, Ishida casually raised a hand, stopping her.
"Like I said... I knew you wouldn't like it, King Halo."
"But what else do we have?" He sighed.
"You think I haven't looked into the alternatives?"
"What miracle are we supposed to conjure to keep that girl in this institution?"
"Beg the officials? Tell them their system is wrong? Cripple the other participants so Urara can win?!"
"What choices do we actually have left, huh?!"
"I'm hitting a wall, King."
"I'm reaching a dead end just as much as I have been wracking my brain trying to help her."
"Trying to keep her in this damn academy that doesn't fit her in a hundred million ways!"
"So, King Halo... what do we have left?!"
"If you're so determined to be fair and righteous, then why don't you give me an alternative that's a million times better than mine?!"
"One that doesn't force me to betray my own conscience just for the sake of someone who was never meant for this high-stakes, results-oriented, rigorous, unforgiving goddamn ACADEMY!"
His final outburst reverberated through the street.
He then stood there, breathing heavily as the realization slowly sank in.
He had lost his temper...
...at King.
His expression instantly softened.
"I..."
"I'm sorry, King..."
"I didn't mean to... lash out at you."
"I'm just... as cornered as you are."
He lowered his gaze and scoffed.
"What a ridiculous joke this is, am I right...?"
"Two complete strangers to her, desperately clinging to the idea that we can somehow help her achieve something that should be impossible."
"What a load of bull crap..."
"I should've given up on her long ago."
"If not for this damn overly sympathetic heart of mine..."
"I wouldn't even bat an eye at her."
With that, silence settled between them once again.
The only sound that could be heard was the faint clenching of King's fist.
Until—
"Fine, I..."
King finally spoke, lowering her head, and Ishida immediately turned toward her.
"I'll think about it," she added.
"About your proposal..."
Ishida narrowed his eyes and sighed.
"No, King."
"That's not the right answer."
"What?!" King's eyes widened.
"I thought all those lashes you just threw at me were meant to convince me to use this cheap method to keep her here!"
"No, King."
Ishida shook his head.
"That's not why I lashed out."
"You see..."
"I hated this idea just as much as you do."
"I loathed it just as much as you."
"I'm simply... venting my frustration over the lack of alternatives."
He paused briefly before continuing.
"Besides... what do you think will happen?"
"If we actually go through with this... sleazy, cheap, uncouth..." He waved a hand dismissively. "Whatever you want to call this method..."
"You think Urara will still have a future?"
"Do you think she'll still have a chance to enter any races if we resort to this?"
At that, King winced slightly, whereas Ishida continued.
"She'll simply become one of those Umamusume with a hopeless dream."
"Because deep down, you know that Urara, just as much as I do, would be an absurd candidate for anyone to scout afterward."
"And in the end..."
He paused.
"She'll simply become..."
"A derelict."
"A piece of a tool, shelved behind the shed where no one will ever look for it..."
"No one will ever pursue her..."
"No one will ever take her seriously..."
"All the way until..."
"Graduation."
"Th-That's not true!" King protested. "I'm sure someone will scout Urara someday!"
"She won't become a derelict!"
"Who?"
"Your trainer?"
King froze.
"You know just as well as I do..."
"The reason you were scouted was because of your pedigree, alongside your competence on the track."
"Urara, on the other hand..."
"She's outright dead weight."
"She literally has nothing to bring to the table. She couldn't even save herself from dismissal."
"Hell, do you really think she has any chance of catching the attention of trainers?"
"The same trainers who dedicate themselves to turning Umamusume into national-level runners?"
Ishida scoffed and rose from the bench.
"Even regional trainers would hesitate to scout her based on her performance."
King leaned forward, placing a hand against her chest.
"What if I train her?!"
"Right?! You said I'm competent enough to earn myself a trainer!"
"What if I—"
"That won't work."
Ishida shook his head.
"You know she could never keep up with you."
"Besides..."
"Even you needed proper training."
He paused, then looked down and muttered.
"You know what...?"
"Maybe there are still alternatives we haven't explored."
"Something we might have overlooked."
"I think I'm going to look further ahead."
"Search for a better way to help her..."
He hesitated before looking back at King.
"As for you..."
"I think you should do whatever you believe is best for Urara."
"Keep her company, train her, or even..."
He narrowed his eyes slightly.
"Do what I proposed in the first place."
He then smiled.
"So, wish me luck, King Halo. I think I'm going to need it just as much as you do."
"I'm going to search for any other way I can squeeze out of this institution."
"Something we simply couldn't uncover through mere conversations or fleeting inspiration..."
"As for that... I think our conversation should end here."
"Farewell, King Halo."
With that, Ishida finally turned and began walking away.
"Till we... meet again in class," and moved on.
Meanwhile, King simply remained where she was, staring after him.
She was speechless.
Because Ishida was right.
About most of it.
Especially the parts she hated the most.
The truths of Urara's stance in this academy that she could not bring herself to deny.
Until—
"Why...?" King asked, and Ishida halted.
"Why are you doing this much for Urara?"
"Like you said..."
"For someone who's practically a stranger to you?"
"I just..."
"I can't comprehend how even a stranger like you would go this far to help her."
"Why, Mr. Ishida...?"
"Why are you helping Urara?"
For a moment, he remained silent.
Then Ishida lifted his head toward the sky and muttered,
"Maybe..."
"Maybe I'm just..."
"...subconsciously atoning."
"Atoning for mistakes I made before..."
"Atoning for my own incapability..."
"Atoning for me—"
He stopped.
"No..."
"For them."
He paused, then looked back at King with a faint smile.
"Or maybe... I'm just bored."
"Who knows?" He shrugged.
"But one thing I'm sure of is that..."
"We're both atoning."
"We're both trying to pull ourselves out of the same mistake."
"That same mistake slowly ate us alive..."
"More than either of us ever admitted."
King was stunned.
She simply stared at Ishida, trembling slightly.
Because he wasn't wrong.
Perhaps...
She was doing the same.
Atoning for her past mistake with... Asaji.
Someone she still couldn't completely erase from her subconscious.
Someone she... did want to atone for...
With that being said, Ishida finally turned away once more and waved.
"Don't worry about it, King."
"I'm sure we'll find a way, one way or another, to deal with this."
"And remember, don't be late for class."
"The first period is about to start."
He turned back one last time, a soft smile on his face.
"And..."
"It was nice talking to you about it."
With that, Ishida turned away once again and waved.
"See ya..." Finally moved on while never breaking his stride.
In the meantime, King remained quietly where she was again, watching him grow farther and farther away.
Until he eventually disappeared into the distance.
Only then did King finally move.
"Whatever..."
"I'm going to find a way to help Urara, too, with or without your..."
She hesitated.
"...help."
She then turned in the opposite direction from where Ishida had gone and...
...disappeared from sight.
But not...
Toward the destination they had chosen.